Martin and Osa Johnson thrilled American audiences of the 1920s and 30s with their remarkable movies of far-away places, exotic peoples, and the dramatic spectacle of African wildlife. Their own lives were as exciting as the movies they made--sailing through the South Sea Islands, dodging big game at African waterholes, flying small planes over the veldt, taking millionaires on safari.

Osa Johnson's ghostwritten autobiography, I Married Adventure, became a national bestseller. The 1939 film version was billed as "the story of World Exploration's First Lady, whose indomitable daring would...